Punahou was pushed like never before on its way to the state title

For the champions, there are long days and nights fueled by coffee and dreams, and perhaps a giant chocolate chip cookie as a reward.

For the tough-luck losers of five-set marathons, there are levels of anguish in the world of boys volleyball.

Some teams are happy to field a team, let alone have a single club player. Others make the state tournament and it is the highest achievement of the season.

Then there are Kamehameha and Moanalua, who lost in heartbreaking fashion to the seemingly eternal dynasty of Punahou. Moanalua rose to No. 3 in the USA Today Super 25 rankings last week, 33-3 coming into the New City Nissan/HHSAA State Championships. The reality is that state champion Punahou, Kamehameha and Moanalua were more like A, B and C, as in 1a, 1b and 1c, than first, second and third. Separating this group of elite island teams — all three beat nationally ranked and/or regional powerhouses this year — is akin to splitting atoms.

“I can see your point with 1a, 1b and 1c. If all three teams could play over and over again, we’d probably play five sets every time and be split in matches,” Kamehameha coach Sava Agpoon said. “But I don’t want to take away from what Punahou did this year. They were mentally strong and peaked at the right moment. That’s what champions do.”

For Moanalua, 2023 began with three aces in hand: UH signees Kai Rodriguez, 6-foot-7 Justin Todd and 6-7 Zack Yewchuk. Home-court advantage in Thursday’s semifinals. Even with a rumored shoulder injury to Rodriguez, a 6-3 outside hitter, Na Menehune had Punahou on the canvas, seemingly down for the count. If it was a boxing match, Punahou was still on one knee at the count of nine.

The Buffanblu stood up and beat the count, then pulled off a miraculous victory in five sets after facing match point (24-21) in the fourth game.

“Moanalua is definitely one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever faced in volleyball,” said Kahale Clini, who led Punahou with 22 kills and three aces.

Roughly 25 hours later, at 8:28 p.m. on Friday, Punahou was on the lifted hardwood floor at Cannon Activities Center for its seventh and final matchup of the year with ILH champion Kamehameha. With three wins apiece in their previous battles, seeding and win-loss records were rendered meaningless for the next 2 hours and 31 minutes.

At 10:59 p.m., Punahou pulled off one of the most insane comebacks in state championship match history. The 19-25, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-10 reverse sweep capped a tumultuous season like no other during Rick Tune’s era as head coach. Twelve crowns total, including 10 in a row. This one is just different.

Losing a wealth of talent to graduation last year. Injuries to key, projected starters. The buy-in of his players, high school kids with the maturity and unity of grown men, kept Tune and his staff invigorated through the volatility.

After the title win, Tune held a box of giant cookies and was draped by a dozen leis around his neck as Buff nation celebrated.

“You want it? Oh, that looks darn good,” he said, examining his bus-ride snack. “I’m going to feel really good about having a rest. I’m going to get some sleep tonight. Take some time away.”

Fueled by caffeine, adrenaline and Buffanblu pride, the longtime coach was ready for the journey home from Laie.

“I’m not going to not be with them right now,” Tune said of the bus ride.

Emotion versus efficiency was a tipping point that lingered for the Buffanblu. The key ingredient: trust.

“God, I’m so proud of everyone,” Clini said. “You know what? I stuck with my guys. I trusted everyone. I’m just so proud of everyone for the last two days. Incredible.”

Ian Kinney was a go-to finisher for a good stretch and finished with 13 kills (.257) on a night when his team finished at .150 against a superb Kamehameha defense.

“At the start, our energy was kind of dead, but it’s just who wants to be a state champion. Our backs are against the wall, that’s how it is,” the 6-foot-3 senior said.

Evan Porter downed 11 kills (.308) and hustled for 16 digs. At 6 feet even, he’s not among the trees who normally rule at the pin, but his consistent effort and durability were vital to Punahou.

“It’s all about executing our game plan against these guys. We’ve played them so many times this season. We know what to do,” the junior said. “It’s just doing that. It was a crazy game.”

Junior James Taras had two clutch blocks in the final set against Kamehameha.

“I feel pretty good. We made a decision to switch the middle so I could be in that matchup. I heard my libero telling me to drop in and I did it, and I got the blocks,” the 6-foot-5 middle said.

Junior Adam Haidar, maker of delicious pumpkin pies during his spare time, developed as key attacker along with Taras in the middle.

“We’ve been in this situation 11 times, lost maybe two or three times. We absolutely thrive on it,” Haidar said of his team’s penchant for five-set battles. “We’ve been so battle tested this season. This is such a great moment.”

On the scale of suffering, was it worse for Kamehameha or Moanalua? The house was filled to the gills at Moanalua, which was one point away from a trip to the final. That balloon deflated by tiny increments, but the match had truly gone back and forth from the start.

At Laie, Kamehameha seemed to be in full control as Punahou’s normally lethal machine sputtered full of fits and starts, hitting and service errors the way it had for much of the season. Tune and his staff simply sat, talked occasionally and let it play out. Three reverse sweeps in a 10-day span. Five five-set marathons, four with Kamehameha, in a 12-day stretch. Familiar pain, familiar turnaround.

The same team that once committed 31 combined hitting and service errors in one match never lost its verve. Incremental adjustments were necessary. Tune talked with the team about the constant go-for-broke, moon-shot issues with serve, and the Buffanblu complied.

More than anything, though, they had grit. The math was on their side, having the most complete, balanced attack in the islands. So was the geometry, able to set hitters at nearly every location and angle. The 2023 squad would not have done so well in a best-of-three format. Best of five? Perfect.

The Kamehameha side of Cannon Activities Center was in full force, with hundreds of fans clad in Warriors navy blue, chanting in unison and sometimes dancing for nearly two hours into the title tilt. That morphed into a slow state of deflation during the final three sets. By the time Punahou opened the fifth set with a 5-0 run, there was no denial remaining. Just agony.

Long after the trophy presentation, the few remaining Warriors fans and players sat in a state of shock. There were tears for players on the ride home, but for fans, it was mostly was pure bewilderment.

“It was a very emotional day for all of us, just not the end,” Agpoon said. “The fact that they took the loss so hard shows how much they put into the season.”

If two league-championship teams give an eventual state champion the fullest of opposition, maybe those historic, final-four, five-set matches are simply masterpieces. Maybe it really is the year of 1a, 1b and 1c. Perhaps all three are worthy of national rankings. Maybe 2023 forges a new level of boys prep volleyball in Hawaii. Maybe the only thing that tops ’23 is ’24. Punahou and Kamehameha will return a surplus of elite talent.

“This was definitely a crazy season,” Agpoon said. “I’ve learned a lot in my second year (as head coach). We’re looking good. We had two senior starters, Heston (Cabinian) and Chancen (Law). It’ll definitely hurt us since they were primary passers, but we have quite a few sophomores and juniors ready to make another run in 2024.”